Bonus point Blues too strong for Cheetahs

The Blues recovered from their loss to the Lions last week by beating the Cheetahs 40-30 with a bonus point in Auckland on Saturday.

The result provisionally moves the Blues up to second in the New Zealand conference and into sixth place overall.

The Cheetahs however remain in last place but have a bye next week which they can use to fix their problems.

The Blues victory was not without controversy as a referee Francisco Pastrana
made a decision that appeared to be "lost in translation".

The Blues were leading 16-13 when centre George Moala stretched for the goal
line in the 29th minute after his attempt to score initially appeared to have
been stopped short.

Argentina referee Pastrana referred the decision on the try to New Zealand
television referee Glenn Newman, asking whether a double movement had occurred.

Newman responded with a long, technical reply which indicated the try should
be disallowed, but Pastrana struggled to understand him and effectively over
ruled the TMO and awarded the try to the Blues.

As the match progressed the Blues held off a late-charge from the Cheetahs
but never got closer than within seven points of the hosts.

The win, in their first home game after a fruitless trip to South Africa, gave
the Blues two wins from five matches and lifted them to sixth on the ladder
although with four matches still to be played in the round.

The Blues and the bottom-placed Cheetahs have the worst defensive records in
the competition and the 70 points scored was testament to the high error count
by both sides.

Even when the Blues needed to shore up their defences as the Cheetahs fought
back from a 30-13 deficit it was more the Cheetahs' errors than tackling by
the Blues that kept the Auckland franchise ahead.

The Cheetahs reached the play offs in 2013 but have not tasted success since
a second round win over the Bulls but had reason to feel aggrieved about the
legality of a try by Blues centre George Moala.

The golden period for the Blues came during 10 minutes in the first half when
they piled on 17 points while Cheetahs loose forward Boom Prinsloo was in the
sin bin.

Prinsloo was punished as the first offender after Pastrana had warned he would
take a tough line on defensive fouls after the Blues had repeatedly infringed
on their own line.

Pastrana had a busy night with the whistle, and early errors from both sides
resulted in Johan Goosen and Simon Hickey trading penalties to have the scores
level at 6-6 before the Blues breached the Cheetahs defence for the first time.

Steven Luatua crossed after a series of forward drives only for Prinsloo to
immediately score at the other end with Hickey and Goosen adding the extras
to tie the score up at 13-13 after 20 minutes.

When Prinsloo was yellow-carded, Hickey landed his third penalty and converted
tries by Moala and Tevita Li as the Blues pulled away to a 30-13 lead before
an Elgar Watts penalty reduced the margin to 30-16 on half-time.

Moala's try was fortunate when replays indicated a double movement, but there
was no doubt about Li's try after Willie le Roux failed to gather a chip kick
allowing the Blues to regain possession and score unopposed.

The Cheetahs scored two long-range tries as they enjoyed the better of the
second half, the first a 45-metre run by Cornal Hendricks and the second a 65-metre
team effort finished by Hennie Daniller, both converted by Watts.

However, the Blues were able to stay in front with a try to prop Tony Woodcock
and a further penalty and conversion to Hickey.